The Frenchmans Bass Recipes

Steps:

• Season the fillets with salt and pepper. Heat a saute pan on top of the grill. When the pan is hot add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and heat. Dredge the bass fillets in the flour and shake off any excess. Place the fillets in the pan and pan fry about 3 minutes per side, until golden brown. Remove the fish from the pan. Add the rest of the butter to the pan and melt. When the butter is hot, add the sliced garlic. Fry the garlic until it just begins to turn light golden brown. Add the herbs and remove from the heat. Carefully, add the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. To serve, place a fillet on a plate and spoon some of the lemon garlic herb butter over the fish.

Steps:

• Place bass in a bowl. Add salt and cover with water. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes to draw out all blood. Rinse bass thoroughly to remove salt. Pat dry with paper towels.
• Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place cornmeal, flour, seasoned salt, paprika, and pepper in a gallon-sized plastic bag. Zip and shake until evenly combined.
• Drop 2 pieces of bass into the bag, zip, and shake to coat. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining bass.
• Fry bass in the preheated deep fryer for 3 minutes per batch. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Beat the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon together in a mixing bowl until well blended. Pour the egg mixture into a baking pan large enough to give you room to turn and soak the bread. (A 13 by 9-inch pan works well.)
• Lay the bread slices in the egg mixture and let them soak, turning them several times, until the bread has soaked up all the egg. Turn them gently so they don't break apart on you.
• Heat the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. When it starts to bubble, lay the soaked bread in the pan. Cook, turning once, until the bread is nicely browned and the egg in the center of each slice is cooked through, about 12 minutes. Serve warm with the Orange-Rum Bananas.
• Note: If your skillet isn't large enough to hold all the bread slices at once, cook them in batches. Before you start your first batch, preheat your oven to 200 degrees F (or "Warm"). Keep the cooked slices warm on a baking sheet in the oven while you cook the rest.
• Heat rum, sugar, butter and orange juice in a large skillet until the butter is melted. Add the bananas. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat so the sauce is bubbling gently. Cook until the bananas are softened, about 4 minutes.
• Yield: 4 servings

Steps:

• Peel the potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes. Measure out 580 grams (1 1/4 pounds) of the peeled and cubed pieces and transfer to a medium saucepan. (Save any remaining pieces for another use.) Cover with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are soft, 10 to 12 minutes.
• While the potatoes are boiling, deposit the flour, milk, 1 tablespoon of the oil, yeast, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
• Drain the potatoes very well, then return them to the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring and breaking up large pieces, until the potatoes are dry and crumbly, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer the potatoes to the stand mixer bowl and mix on low speed until the dough begins to come together, about 30 seconds. Swap out the paddle for the dough hook and knead on medium speed until somewhat smooth, about 4 minutes. Inspect the dough. If it's very sticky, tearing, and smearing around the bottom of the bowl, add 1 tablespoon of flour and mix on low speed until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. Keep checking the dough; you may have to add up to 4 tablespoons of flour depending on the moisture level of the potatoes. Return to medium speed and continue kneading until the dough is smooth, another 3 minutes. Transfer to a lightly floured counter and knead by hand for a final minute. If the dough sticks heavily to your hands, work in a bit more flour. The dough should be soft, but not overly tacky.
• Shape the dough into a ball and move to a tall 2- to 4-quart container or 8-cup liquid measuring cup. Add about 1 teaspoon of oil and rotate the dough in the oil to coat it evenly. Press down to flatten the top of the dough, then mark the dough height on the outside of the bowl with tape or a rubber band. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rise at room temperature until the dough has doubled in size, 20 to 40 minutes.
• Once risen, punch down the dough to work out any large gas bubbles. Transfer to a lightly floured counter and divide into eight 175- to 180-gram pieces. Form each into a smooth ball, then transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with a towel and rest for 10 minutes.
• When 5 minutes remain, heat 1 inch of the oil in a wide Dutch oven over medium-high heat to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with a wire rack. (See Cook's Note.)
• One at a time, flatten each dough ball into a circle, then stretch or roll it into an 8- to 10-inch disc. Cut three slits across the center of the disc to help prevent large bubbles from forming during cooking. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and top with a second sheet of parchment. Repeat with the remaining dough balls.
• When the oil is ready, fry the discs, one at a time, until puffed and golden brown, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per side. (Although a spider or slotted spoon can be used for flipping, I manage much better with wooden chopsticks.) Transfer the golden-brown beauties to the wire rack as they come out of the oil to drain. Keep an eye on the oil temperature and adjust the heat as needed to maintain 350 degrees F. Continue to stretch out the remaining dough discs while frying.
• Consume the breads warm, if possible. (When it's still hot, I always toss one in a zip-top bag with some sugar and cinnamon...the best doughnut ever.) Leftovers freeze well: cool to room temperature, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and seal in a gallon-size zip-top bag. Freeze for up to 6 months. Reheat straight from the freezer in a toaster oven or directly on an oven rack at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat broiler. Keeping skin intact, mash avocado flesh. Broil mashed avocados in skin shells for 2 minutes. Set aside on a warm plate.
• Saute fish pieces in clarified butter on high heat. Season with white pepper. Stir in brown sugar. Add shrimp, pimento, and garlic. Pour in rum, shaking pan constantly. Add dill. Add butter and remove pan from heat, letting butter melt into the sauce.
• Spoon fish mixture onto avocado halves, sprinkle with grated cheese and broil again for a few minutes, until cheese begins to brown.

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients except flour in a small, heavy saucepan over med-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Once mixture is at a boil, stir constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and sift in flour a little at a time, stirring to combine each addition before adding the next. Cool to room temperature or refrigerate for later use. (If refrigerated, allow mixture to come up to room temperature before cooking.)
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a backing pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper and spoon out mixture with a metal soup spoon or a number 50 disher. Cookies will spread out like crazy, so place dollops 6 to 8 inches apart. Bake 18 minutes or until deep mahogany brown.
• To form into cups, use a metal spatula to transfer the hot candy disks to the bottoms of inverted ramekins or custard cups. (Have a ramekin for each disk, or the disks will set before you can get through them all.) Work quickly and the disks will conform to the shape of the cups. Remove when cool and store wrapped with paper towel inside resealable plastic bags.
• Variation:While hot, disks can be cut into shapes with a pizza cutter and used as garnish for other desserts, or l